SAN DIEGO, Calif. - With the 2013 softball season right around the corner, the University of San Diego softball squad was picked to finish third in the annual Pacific Coast Softball Conference pre-season coach's poll, released on Monday. The Toreros, who finished in 2nd place last season, garnered a total of 32 points in the poll, putting them one point ahead of Saint Mary's (31 points).

PCSC-newcomer BYU was chosen to win the conference with six 1st place votes and 48 points overall. Loyola Marymount came in second with 39 points. Saint Mary's was the only team besides BYU to collect a 1st place vote. Utah Valley (18), CSU Bakersfield (15) and Santa Clara (13) rounded out the poll.

The Toreros finished 26-19 overall in 2012 and 13-7 in conference play. USD was right in the mix for the Coastal Division title until the final weekend of the season, but wound up finishing 2nd behind Saint Mary's. USD returns six position starters and both primary pitchers from a year ago. Of the returners, RHP Jenny Lahitte (1st team), RF Lauren Tomey (1st team), RHP Cassidy Coleman (2nd team) and 3B Chloe Kaneko (honorable mention) were all-conference honorees in 2012.

All seven conference head coaches participated in the poll. First-place votes were worth seven points, six points was received for being voted second, five for third place and so forth.

This year's conference makeup has shifted from a year ago. Besides adding BYU this season, the PCSC went from a 12-team, two division conference to a single division with seven teams. The PCSC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be determined by the regular season conference champion following the 24-game conference slate that each team will play.

This will be the final season of competition for the PCSC before USD and the rest of the current PCSC squads transition to the West Coast Conference beginning in the 2014 season. Utah Valley and CSU Bakersfield will be softball-only members of the WCC next season.

The Toreros open the 2013 campaign by hosting McNeese State for a double-header on Feb. 7 with first pitch of game one set for 4 pm.